Parliament Speaker claims “assault of disinformation” against public amid backlash over controversial bill on transparency

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday claimed the domestic public was being targeted with an “assault of disinformation” amid a backlash by domestic opposition, civil sector and diplomatic representations in the country against the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence.

In his remarks over the bill, which calls for registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad, Papuashvili claimed its opponents were “still trying to suppress common sense with slogans and dogmas”.

Now we are actually witnessing an assault of disinformation on the Georgian public, where they are still trying to suppress common sense with slogans and dogmas. This process has its own description. This is called dogmatism, when instead of presenting an argument, an opinion is sold to the public as an argument”, he said.

“What we hear, [with critics’ branding of the bill as] the ‘Russian law’ and so on, it is all dogmatic reasoning when they no longer enter into the discussion”, he continued.

The lawmaker added the “important thing is what Georgian citizens are saying, not what this or that person tells us” in the criticism against the legislative initiative.

“In fact, there is an attempt to prevent the public from thinking with ordinary dogmatism. We see that the public has passed this stage and understands very well that there is no alternative to reasoning. Talking with dogmas and suppressing reasoning will no longer work”, Papuashvili concluded.

The Parliament Speaker on Monday expressed his “readiness to participate in public discussion” on the bill, after the debate was offered by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze to ambassadors of the United States, European Union and EU member states.